Roger Dodger

2002

Action / Comedy / Drama

Synopsis

Set against the bright lights of Manhattan, a tale which takes a comic, urbane look at the modern male ego at war in the singles scene trenches. Roger Swanson is a hopelessly cynical advertising copywriter with a razor-sharp wit who believes he has mastered the art of manipulating women. But Roger's seemingly foolproof world of smooth talk and casual sex begins to unravel when he is paid a surprise visit by his teenager nephew, Nick. Hoping to settle, once and for all, the issue of his virginity, Nick begs Roger to school him in the art of seducing women. Welcoming the challenge, Roger guides Nick through the city's wild nightlife for an all-night crash course, only to realize that he--the adult--still has something to learn about what women, and men, really want.

Set against the bright lights of Manhattan, a tale which takes a comic, urbane look at the modern male ego at war in the singles scene trenches. Roger Swanson is a hopelessly cynical advertising copywriter with a razor-sharp wit who believes he has mastered the art of manipulating women. But Roger's seemingly foolproof world of smooth talk and casual sex begins to unravel when he is paid a surprise visit by his teenager nephew, Nick. Hoping to settle, once and for all, the issue of his virginity, Nick begs Roger to school him in the art of seducing women. Welcoming the challenge, Roger guides Nick through the city's wild nightlife for an all-night crash course, only to realize that he--the adult--still has something to learn about what women, and men, really want.

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by lasttimeisaw7 / 10

a US indie curio with a wider appeal than it seems to have

Would anyone love a person like Roger Swanson (Scott)? A good-looking New-Yorker, a latter-day Casanova, who can elaborate on the imminent obsolescence of male gender due to the accelerating diminution of its utility, during his working lunch with the presence of his co-workers and their boss Joyce (Rossellini), a woman significantly older than him and whom he has been seeing secretively for quite a long time, he is her "boy".

But right in that night, Joyce unilaterally decides to sever their casual affair, Roger doesn't even have his say in it, but at least, the break-up sex is still on the table, so he takes it with a grudge. In a bar, Roger's patronising act to persuade a young girl (Baccani) from putting out to a man whom he claims to a "bad news" to her doesn't pan out like he wants, because ironically, he is also a "bad news" himself and a total stranger, any girl with a good sense of judgement would not let him get what he wants; later he lets loose his frustration by pretentiously derides a much older woman (Emery), who is waiting for her finance alone in the bar, unfortunately sitting next to him.

So, the consensus is that we don't like Roger, and no one should, sharp-witted and cerebral, maybe, but he is a callous cad, through and through. However, in the eyes of his nephew, Nick (Eisenberg), who arrives unannounced from Ohio, Roger is a lady's man who proclaims that he can score every night if he wants. Meanwhile, Roger thrills to play his utilitarian role as his wingman once he finds out Nick is a 16-year-old virgin and

The coaching session starts on the sidewalk, by talking, and the gist is that "sex is everywhere", here, the hand-held camera employment from the first-time director Dylan Kidd, a tactic has shown great pragmatism and advantage in its intrusive manner under dialogue-laden, interior- located contexts, causes a somehow fluid and distracting effect al fresco, which trivialises the conversation, however, once the pair plunges into the (retrospectively speaking) three-steps mission to make Nick score that night: hooking-up-ladies-in-the-bar, gatecrashing-a-party and ultimately, the "fail-safe" adventure in a seedy whorehouse, the film becomes unstoppable, accurately captures the nitty-gritty in the metropolitan dating sphere, deceitful, desperate and destructive.

A Manichaean strategy to juxtapose an impressionable virgin with a cynical playboy works its way to be beneficial to both parties, Nick, seals his first kiss with an amiable, mature and attractive Sophie (Beals), and sees the vulnerability of a maudlin Donna (Badie), Roger's colleague in the party which Joyce organises and Roger is not invited, and sensibly chooses not to take advantage of her. Roger, however, immersed in his own misery after being cheaply dumped, unexpectedly receives a wake-up call which is just in time for him to rescue Nick from losing his virginity in the most vacuous and crudest way.

Scott supremely nails Roger's character as a rapid-fire and eloquent orator edifying his "inconvenient truth" about men and women - some are not truth per se, merely bravado only to sound smart. But Mr. Scott also excavates much deeper under Roger's vain front, he bespeaks a seething soul who has nothing in his grip, who is disheartened by superficiality of the man-woman interrelationship, and the fact that he is constantly under-appreciated for being outspoken about it, yes, that's THE inconvenient truth, if you don't play along with the rule, you are excluded.

The film is also Jesse Eisenberg's screen debut, incredibly, his trademark tic of being self- conscious and out-of-the-place has already been honed up to a full blossom. Jennifer Beals and Elizabeth Berkley, make up the pair of the opposite sex as two bar frequenters-cum-friends, Sophie and Andrea, the quartet's breeze-shooting convo is strangely magnetic, both actresses are at the top of their games of being spontaneous and unfeigned, plus Beals beams with warmth in initiating that first kiss!

Finishing the movie with a flourish of lacuna, ROGER DODGER resonates pretty well as a snappy and honest take on urban philosophy, a US indie curio with a wider appeal than it seems to have.

Reviewed by SnoopyStyle6 / 10

Jesse Eisenberg breakout

New York ad writer Roger Swanson (Campbell Scott) is sleeping with his boss Joyce (Isabella Rossellini). He's a cynic. He can talk out of anything and his childhood nickname was Roger Dodger. When Joyce dumps him once again, he turns even more bitter. His sixteen year old nephew Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) from Ohio visits him looking for sexual advice. It's a lesson in cynical world view. In a bar, they meet Andrea (Elizabeth Berkley) and Sophie (Jennifer Beals).

The movie is a bore with Campbell Scott. It's meandering with a tiresome angry cynic. It's a very tiring first act and then Jesse Eisenberg shows up. It would have been better to just follow Jesse right from the start. Another minor problem is the shaky cam. It's worthwhile at times to denote Roger's roving attention but otherwise, it screams indie. Even with Eisenberg, it's a very slow burn at first. Writer/director Dylan Kidd could have improved this part. The movie starts getting interesting when Andrea and then Sophie show up. That's when the fun begins. I would have liked the movie stay with the girls for the entire night.

Reviewed by Finfrosk865 / 10

Some bad acting, but some good life lessons!

Saw this one with a friend, knew close to nothing about it. It starts out pretty bad. The opening scene is not good. The acting was close to embarrassing to watch, did not seem real at all. Almost cringe worthy. It's not that it's horrible, but it misses the mark, and in this type of movie, that's a disaster.

It does get a little better, but I did not like some of the performances by the main cast. Rossellini? Not good at all.

What saves this movie is Jesse Eisenberg, basically. And some of the "theories" and speeches given by Roger himself. There are some pretty good life lessons here! But the cinematography and general look of the movie I did not like. Looks cheap and sort of amateurish.

when you get into it, there are some pretty good parts, and Mr. Eisenberg adds a lot. If the problems with the movie had been fixed, it would be a lot better.